Cyber security is an important concern for all computing devices, and managing the access to a computing device may help eliminate security breaches. Barcode readers typically have direct access to their host computing devices (i.e., host device). This access has traditionally allowed the barcode scanner to transmit large amounts of decoded data from printed indicia (e.g., barcodes) to the host device as a fast and convenient means for data entry. In recent years, indicia have become more sophisticated. Modern indicia may encode information for more than just data entry. For example, computing devices may allow information from a decoded indicium to alter data or start/end/alter a process running on the host device. This added functionality has created a security vulnerability.
Indicia are inscrutable without a barcode reader and are anonymous, having no links to their creator. These characteristics combined with a barcode reader's intimate access to the host device provide an opportunity for misuse. For example, an indicia encoded with malicious information could hijack a host device and cause unwanted actions, damage, or loss. If the host device is a part of a larger system (i.e., network of computers) then this risk becomes even more pernicious.
A need, therefore, exists for a barcode reader with security features to screen decoded indicia information (i.e., decoded data) and prevent threatening and/or risky information from being exposed to a host device and/or host system.